Callus Chronicles: Discovery
by CrazyGeek31
Summary: This is a novel that I am writing and hoping to publish some day. This will not be a full story, at most it will be the first 3 chapters. I will release this book at some point an Amazon.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My name is Fabian Callus and I'm here to explain how you humans ever found out about us. To tell the truth it's actually my fault, as is the end of the world; but we'll get to that. In order to understand what happened you need to start at the day I found out who I am. So lets start at my absolute best day at St. Christopher's School for Insolent Children right outside Reno, Nevada

St. Christopher's is a school for "different" children, really it just means we're all trouble makers or unwanted. Its sort of like a juvenile correction facility, but without the solitary confinement. Located in the middle of nowhere there is absolutely no escape. Even prisoners only have to share a bunk with one person, they group us 4 to a room. I was stuck in dorm 372 with twins named John and Jack Gutimer, and Gavin Free. It was a horrible set up, because the twins were nine years old while Gavin and I were both fourteen. Needless to say there were plenty of arguments.

Gavin was a funny British kid who had move to St. Christopher's about the same time I had. He was a little weird looking. He was skinny, but really tall. His eyes are almost a navy sort of blue. Though sometimes they changed to bright turquoise. His hair and eyebrows are both very pointed and blond.

Our dorm was really just a small attic room with two bunk-beds and a single closet. The lack of things actually helped keep down fight since there was nothing to steal from each other. Each of us had a set of pajama's and two school uniforms. We also each had a backpack with a pad of paper, a book of our choice, and an eraser. That just about sums up all that I had owned my entire life.

I had live at St. Christopher's since the age of 8. The police found me alone when I was 3 in a park with only a jacket that had "Fabian" embroidered on it. Since then my parents were wits and discipline. I have lived in different foster homes, but each one ended up kicking me out. Once I was abandoned about 10 times my social worker moved me to St. Christopher's. It wasn't until about a year after I moved to St. Christopher's that I realized why no one wanted me. It was my eyes. They are I mix of different metallic colors that tend to put people off.

My last day at St. Christopher's was definitely my best and happiest. It started out like any other day. I woke up, woke Gavin up, went to the bathroom and got ready, and went to class. The school rooms are kept between the gender assigned wing s for easy access for both boys and girls.

Class is the only part of the day that I hate, but its the longest and the most boring. Our teacher is Mrs. Phang, a fat bipolar lady. She's always evil, but she can change moods and/or personalities on the flip of a coin. I think she is out to get me. In class I am the first one she calls on, or swats on the hands for being late. I'm pretty sure its illegal, but we weren't in a position to complain.

As soon as I enter class, three minutes early I might add, I hear "So, look who has finally thought to join us class. Mr. Callus in the future please be reminded to come to class _on time_ tomorrow."

Guess who said it. Yep, the evil toad is sitting at the front of the class, and of course everyone except for Gavin and I were there 5 minutes early. As soon as I sat down she came over and had us lay our hands flat on the desk. She took a yardstick from behind her back and gave us both a swift rap on the knuckles.

Safe to say after that class didn't get any better. When I went to take out my notebook I realized that it wasn't in my bag. How could I lose one of the three things that I am supposed to carry around at all times? Then it hit me, when I took it out and went to sleep last night the Gutimer twins were still awake. Those stupid little ingrates had stolen my notebook.

"Ma'am?" I asked "I do not have my notebook, I seem to have misplaced it."

She turns around with the biggest grin on her ugly face. "Well Mr. Callus we both know the consequence for being unprepared in class. Now go to the closet and grab the cutters."

Maybe I should explain the "cutters". The cutters are just some hair clippers. When you come to class without supplies once in a week you get your head shaved. My hair had just began to reach a good length. I went and retrieved the cutters and stool from the closet. Something very strange happened when I did. When I reached past a piece of wire for the clippers it stuck to my hand. Unfortunately, when I tried to pull my hand away from it saw it.

"Mr. Callus put that down this instant!" She croaked "You were told to retrieve the cutters, not vandalize my property."

"Sorry its kind of stuck to me, if you haven't noticed." I said sarcastically "Here if your so strong you try to get it off then."

She came over and slapped me in front of the whole class "Do not take that tone with me Fabian. GET THAT OFF YOUR ARM!" She screamed "I am your teacher and you _WILL_ listen to me!"

Suddenly my vision went black as my rage built. I felt a tug in my stomach and I could see again. The sight I saw was not a pretty one. Mrs. Phang was on the floor screaming insults at me, while the wire was wrapped around her enormous torso and stuck to the ground. I could here my classmates whispers all around me.

"I always knew he was strange, since day one." " How did he _do_ that?" "Did you see it? It just lunged at her."

I just stood there and stared at Mrs. Phang wondering what had just happened. Gavin came up to me and started speaking to me. It took me a while to figure out what he was saying. "Come on mate, let's get you to the room."

While he led me to the room I just kept thinking _what _had just happened. Somehow that wire responded to me. Just moments before I blacked out I imagined Mrs. Phang locked up and stuck somewhere. Strangly, I was kind of happy to have hurt one of the horrible teachers that govern this school. Vaguely I could Gavin asking questions.

"How did you _do_ that? That was the coolest thing I have ever seen. The wire just jumped off your arm and tackled her. What blows is now what are you going to do? You assaulted a teacher."

That brought me back among the living. "What do you mean what am I going to do? They won't kick me out will they?"

We both knew the answer to that. I was feeling oddly happy about this. The only part that I was particularly sad about was leaving Gavin. He had been my best friend since we were eight. For those of you who can't subtract that's 6 whole years. We walked the rest of the way to the dorm in silence. When we got to the room Gavin left and said that he "wanted to see the old toad let free" as he put it.

After that no one came to the dorm that night. I couldn't sleep, so I just lay down an looked at the ceiling. The question now was where was I going to go? After this no school in the country would want me now. The answer to that question came at about three in the morning, when I was looking at a map the twins had hidden. An answer that could solve all my troubles. All I needed was some food and Gavin's help.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My plan was perfect. If I was forced out of St. Christopher's no one would ever take me in. So, I was going to escape before that happened. At about 6 O'clock Gavin stumbled into the room dead on his feet. It took me a while to get him awake, and figure out where he had been. Apparently, it took the staff four hours to extract Mrs. Phang without hurting her.

"A shame that was." Gavin mumbled "I was counting on her taking injury leave. Their coming for you in the morning, I'll miss you mate."

"You don't need to man. I have a plan to escape." I revealed "Its pretty simple, and it should get us both out."

After I explained my plan I was sure it would work. I also knew Gavin would come with me, because he had always wanted to find someway to leave this place. For a while he just sat there staring off into the distance.

"You sure? This is going to be dangerous." he warned. "If your going through with this I'll go with you, but where will we go when we escape?"

"I don't know. We'll probably go to Vegas and get jobs there or travel to Los Angeles and live there." I answered "Any where is better than here. For now let's just get out of here."

We decided that we should act right away. Since it was going to be light outside soon the staff should be coming to get me at any moment. We made our way to the kitchens to get some food before escaping into the city. Unfortunately, it took awhile because we had to dodge vigilant teachers, sleepy children, and squeaky floor boards. We got all the way there just to see the cook walk in to start breakfast.

"Now what are we going to do?" Gavin asked "Its going to take him an hour to finish, and then the teachers will do their morning check-ups."

"I don't know, let me think." I answered. "Let's see, we could cause a distraction; or knock him out? Whoa those bread buns smell good."

"Yeah. Well, let's do the distraction" He said "People just might notice an unconscious cook. Besides, he has always be nice to us."

So needless to say, we went with Gavin's plan. In a few minutes the cook was in the hallway wondering how his kitchen chairs had ended up outside. When he walked into the kitchen he stopped dead in his tracks. All of his beautiful buns where gone.

It took us a couple of hours hiking in the wilderness for Reno to come into sight. We set up a camp about a mile outside the city. When we finished setting up it was around 2 in the afternoon. Both of us where exhausted, but I ended up taking first watch. Nothing eventful happened except for a couple of near-by cars for an hour or so.

All I could do was think. I thought about what had happened with the wire. What had I done to that piece of metal? Did I cause it to attack her, or was it a special piece of trash?

I decided to test my theories on a piece of scrap metal I had found near by. I went and sat down next to Gavin. For about a half an hour I just sat there and tried to make it move. My only result was a feeling of stupidity. Angry and tired I decided to wake up Gavin.

"What do you want?" He asked groggily "I just fell asleep a couple minutes ago."

"Dude that was hours ago, its your turn to take sentry duty." I complained "Get your sorry butt up , and keep watch. I need to sleep."

The next morning we packed up camp, and set off for Vegas. I kept that piece of scrap metal that I had tried to move with my mind. I don't know why, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

We hitch hiked all the way to Femley. It was a medium sized town about an eighth of the way to Las Vegas. We set up a new camp in a park near the highway. That night was one of the strangest nights of my life.

After we set up camp I was stuck on first watch again. Since I was alone I decided to try the scrap metal a second time. I sat there and concentrated on it for about 20 minutes. Finally, I got angry with it and threw it away. How could I make a wire attack a teacher when I couldn't make a little scrap of metal move?

When I threw the metal away it did something strange. The metal _curved_ and came back to me. "What the he..."

_BONK!_ It hit me straight in the face, and onto the ground

After getting out of the dirt, cursing the whole time, I got up and inspected the little scrap of steel. It seemed exactly the same as before I threw it. I tried again to move it. Nothing happened.

"Well, that just my luck." I said to myself "The one time I get it to work nobody's watching."

"What was that?!" I hear behind me. I turn around, and and standing there is a girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Wow she's pretty, was my first thought when I saw her. Deep caramel skin, pretty orange eyes, and long brown hair. She seemed to be about my age. I quickly found out she was really strong when she knocked me unconscious with a single punch.

When I finally woke up I was in my camp. Gavin and the girl were standing over me. She started talking as soon as I opened my eyes. "I'm so sorry, I just freaked out. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Dang, you talk a lot." I said groggily "How long have I been out?"

"About an hour." Gavin answered "She dragged you all the way over here and woke me up. We've been sitting here since she stopped screaming."

I turned to look at the stranger "So, who are you? And why did you hit me?"

She looked guilty "Sorry, I just freaked out when I saw the thing you did with that piece of metal. How did you do that by the way?"

_ Oh great, she saw that. _I thought "Don't ask." I got up and asked her "Who are you? And, what are you doing out here at night."

"Oh, I'm Alicia. I was just out on a walk, and I saw you. So I went to say hi, and I saw what you did."

"Ok, wait a sec" Gavin interrupts "She keeps saying she saw you do something. Did you get it to work?"

"Yeah, but shut up. She's going to hear you." I turned around "So Alicia how..." I stopped. She was gone.

"Where did she go?" I said a half hour later. We had walked around for a while and looked for her. Unfortunately, there was no sign that she had even been there. Not even a foot print.

"She must have just buggered off." Gavin answered "We're probably better off without her. So, on another note, you got it to work? You moved something?"

"Yeah, but it was just a piece of scrap metal."I said "I only got it to come back at me when I threw it. I didn't mean for it to happen, I was just angry at it."

"That's it!" Gavin exclaimed "Both times you moved something you were angry. Maybe that's how you unlock your power, _strong emotions. _Has anything else ever happened while you were mentally out of control?"

"No, I've never done anything like it. I mean, I've never moved anything with my mind." I said. Then I had an idea. "Gavin, hit me."

"What! Why?" He sputtered "I think you have lost your marbles mate, if you think I'm going to hit you."

"Just do it, I have an idea. If you can make me angry enough it might aggravate my powers. Just do i-" I was cut off by a giant fist to my face.

"Sorry mate." He apologized "I had to do it while you were distracted. If I hadn't it probably wouldn't have worked if you knew when it was going to happen. Seeing as it didn't work anyways it wasn't a good idea in the first place. You knew it was coming, so it wouldn't have made you angry."

"Well if you get a chance try to irritate me to the point of rage. OK?"

"Sure."

That was one of the worst mistakes I have ever made. Through out the next week of hiking to Vegas, Gavin was absolutely horrible. He found every possible way to annoy me. I would wake up with mud in my hair, or my clothes covered in leaves. While we're hiking he would go out of his way trip me, or scare me into the road. He would embarrass me in front of people when ever went we into any town that we passed.

The eighth day was special for two reasons. We were right outside Las Vegas, and that was the day Gavin got me to my breaking point.

I woke up that day completely covered in the ashes from the fire we had built. My clothes turned gray with it, and I smelt like smoke. Needless to say this was the start of a horrible day.

After a breakfast of stolen granola bars we set out hiking. For a while it went well, at least until Gavin remembered something.

"Hold it!" He yelled "We've got to go back, I forgot my gloves." We walk all the way back, and it turns out they had been in his back pocket the whole time.

"Really?! You make me walk two hours out of our way so that you could get something that you had the whole time! What's wrong with you? We still have like three hours to walk and your playing games.

" Sorry mate, I didn't mean to. I truly thought I left it there" He went pale "Fabian please put down the rocks."

"What ro..." I turned. There were about two dozen fist sized rocks floating in mid-air. All of them were posed, ready to strike.

"Whoa! What I am I doing!?" All of the rocks instantly fell.

"Well THAT was awesome!" I said with a smile. "Thanks Gav, that was a real help. I really needed to see what I could do."

"W-w-welcome mate, but next time try to notice when you do that." He stuttered. "I don't walk to be a pancake. Now let's get out of here, that caused a lot of noise."

We set out again for Vegas, but after about 20 minutes I heard something move. I turned to look behind us, and was immediately shoved into some sort of canvas bag.

We were carried for awhile to some vehicle where we were ungraciously shoved into a hard floor. We both fought and shouted, but we got kicked into silence. From the sound of their voices our captors were a mix of men, and women.

I decided to just accept that I wasn't going to escape yet, and listen to their conversation.

"What do you think is so special about these two?" A woman's voice asked

A gruff manly voice answered her "Don't know. Radar picked up something powerful in this area. We just found these two. They're lucky we found them, something that powerful could get rid of them in a heartbeat.'

"Hmm. How powerful was that thing? Was it even an Elemental?"

"Oh yeah, this thing was an Elemental as powerful as Lucas. He must have some amount of control, or Vegas would just be a crater."

I was an idiot, and decided to speak up. "What's an Elemental?"

Surprisingly, he answered "You'll find out when we get where we're going." I heard movement. "Claire, why are these boys still locked up?"

Suddenly someone grab my bag, and opened it up. I was momentarily blinded by the light. I was in the back of some sort of van with the two people who had been talking to me. The woman was shorter with dark hair, and bright white and gold eyes. The man was a huge guy with a blond buzz cut and fiery red eyes. They both seemed to be around 22, maybe 23.

The woman began to pull Gavin out of his bag, but could he was unconscious. She couldn't pull him out because he was just dead weight. I crawled over and helped him out.

"So can you guys explain why you shoved us into some potato sacks, and threw us into a van?" I asked

"Sorry, we thought you might fight, and we seriously needed to get you guys out of there." Claire answered. "There was something in that area that was, seriously going to mess you up."

"What do you mean? We hadn't seen anybody for miles until you abducted us."

She shot a meaningful glance at the man. "Well, you'll find out when we get there. Jim why don't you get some drinks out, these boys looked parched."

Jim pulled a couple of sodas out of the cooler next to his seat. "You want diet, or regular?"

"I wouldn't know, seeing as I've never had one." I said "Where we lived we didn't get a lot of things that normal people got." I walked over to Gavin, and opened the can next to his ear. He woke instantly.

"Wazz goin on?" He asked. He seemed startled to see where we were, to say the least. "Where are we!? How did we get here?"

"Gavin, I have absolutely no idea what's happening." I said "They say we'll find out when we get there. Want a soda?"

"They said that and you trust them?" He whispered hysterically "They just kidnapped us and you _trust_ them?"

They must have heard, because no one answered him. We rode for the rest of the trip in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I had already fallen asleep when we got to our destination. I was rudely awakened by Gavin screaming in my ear."Fabian, we're here!"

"You don't need to yelling." I said drowsily "Where are we?"

"The middle of no where." He answered angrily. "Just look outside. There's absolutely nothing around except your new friends. They went outside, and they told me to wake you up."

I got up, and looked out the window. Gavin was right, there was nothing around. It was just empty, mountainous, cold desert landscape. There was barely even a bush around. Claire and Jim were standing with one other person next to a really big rock. I couldn't tell what they looked like, because they had some really thick coats and hats on. Jim must have saw me because he made a motion for us to come out.

"Hey Gavin, they're calling us out." We opened the back doors and walked over to them.

Jim smiled when we got to them. "Bout time you woke up. We've been waiting for you. Come here real quick." He gestured to the rock. "See that hole? Stick your hand in it."

"Why? That thing looks like somethings been living in it." I did as he said. "Whoa. What's this thing?"

"It's a lever, pull it." I did so.

"What was that for? It did absolutely nothing." The ground began to rumble. The boulder slowly began to rise, under it there was a doorway with stairs leading down into it's dark depths.

"Coolest house ever, huh?" Jim goaded. "Well, come on. It's not like we're taking you to your death."

Gavin began to freak out. "I told you these people are crazy! They own a hole in the middle of the desert!" To Claire he said, "If you think I'm going down there, your crazy." He began to walk away.

Claire's response was immediate. "Where are you going to go? We are miles away from the nearest road. It's not like you can just walk to Vegas! It's 20 miles away!" she began to march after Gavin. "See that mountain all the way over there? That's Mt. Wilson. You gonna go all the way home from here?"

"No, I'm just going to find the nearest way back to any civilization."

I figured this had gone far enough so I decided to put a stop to it. "Look, Gavin let's at least see what they have to say. If they really are crazy I think we can take them."

"Well mate, how about I wait outside and you go with them?" He says with a smile.

"Your really going to let me go into a dark scary tunnel with possible psychotics? Wow, I thought you wanted me alive."

"Fine, I'll come inside with you. But, if something bad happens I blame you."

"Deal." We walked over to the rest of the group. As we approach I still couldn't tell who was under those thick clothes. All I could tell was that they were a little shorter than us. I couldn't even tell if it was a girl or a boy. Now that I thought about it, whoever it was had to be about our age.

I approached the stranger. "Wow your pretty young to drive." They nodded but didn't say anything.

"So, have you decided whether your coming, or not?" Claire asked Gavin

"Well... ...If I am allowed to leave if I wish I shall go inside." Gavin replied "But if you give me any reason not to trust you, I am leaving."

"No problem." Says Jim. "Where we're going you won't want to leave."

After we descended the stairs it only took a minute or two to see light. Finally, we came to a lit up door way with a strange symbol on it.

Jim walked right up to it while Gavin and I stood there, slack-jawed. "Hey, John? Open it up, its me and a couple of visitors."

The door began to open, and behind it was one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen. Behind the door was a huge room filled with maybe thirty, or forty people. The room itself must have been over 100 feet in any direction.

Gavin and I just stood there, mouths wide open. Jim seemed to notice this and beckoned us to follow him. I began to walk towards him, still in shock.

_ How can something like this even exist?_ I thought. _How can no-one know about this?_

When we entered the gargantuan room about half the people turned to stare at us. I found that a little unnerving. I turned to look at Gavin, and he was still at the door with his mouth open.

"Hey, Gavin. You coming, or not?" I said with a smile. "They're not going to wait for us." He seemed to fall out of his trance, and he began to follow again.

Jim led us to a small room on the side of the main area, and stood by the door. "Now you guys wait in here while Claire and I get the man in charge." He looked sternly at Gavin. "None of your funny business, you hear? I'll be back as soon as possible."

Gavin nodded, still in shock, and walk into the room. I looked at Claire as we were walking in. I noticed something in her eyes. Was it sadness, regret? I couldn't place it at the time. It disappeared so quickly I thought I had imagined it. I walked into the room, and immediately the door slammed shut.

Gavin and I pounded on the door for about ten minutes before we actually looked at the room. There are three big white chairs sitting in the middle of the room. The only other furniture was a small glass desk.

I walked over to the desk, and sat down. As soon as I sat down the desktop started glowing.

"Whoa! Gavin check this thing out!" As he was walking over a shape started to form on the screen. It was a man's face. He seemed to be in his late fifties, early sixties. His face was covered in small scars.

He began to address us. "I'm sorry about the way you where treated, but we needed to get you into this room. As soon as you do what we say we will let you out."

"We want you to sit in the chair directly in front of you. This just a simple test. The test will just tell us a few things about yourself."

The video faded out slowly. When it was done Gavin immediately freaked out. "They lock us up against our will and they expect us to trust them!? Are they out of their minds?"

"Gavin we for all we know we either sit in those chairs right now, or they'll let us rot in here. I vote we go ahead with what they want."

"Look, I never said that we should both do it." By Gavin's confused look I could tell he still didn't understand. "Why don't I get in one of the chairs, and you can pull me out if anything happens."

"Absolutely not, mate. I'd rather go, then you can pull me out."

"You are not going in there, Gavin. At least _I_ can destroy it if things get out of hand. Now are you going to be a little g it, or are you going to let me sit in a chair?"

He seemed to give up because he said "Well, I guess I can't talk you out of it, so go ahead."

"Finally." In truth I was terrified, but I wasn't going to let Gavin show me up. I walked up to the chair. As I got closer I noticed that they had restraints on the arm rests, and glowing blue lines ran through them. The restraints didn't exactly project a ray of confidence.

I decided to go in the middle one. It was surprisingly comfortable, all soft and firm at the same time. I sat there for about five minutes, staring at Gavin before anything happened.

It started as humming in the back of my neck, and slowly became a silent scream in my mind. The restraints sprung up around my wrists and ankles. Next thing I know I'm in agonizing pain. My mind become enveloped in a blanket of sheer, unforgiving pain. In the distance, I was vaguely aware of Gavin pulling on my restraints; yelling almost as loudly as I was. The world went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I drifted in and out of consciousness. The first time I was on a girder, with Claire and Gavin at my side. The second I was in some sort of MRI. There were lights all around. I could hear a doctor's voice. "We've never had a reaction like this. No one has ever been as intensely effected by the memory scanner. What little I've recovered from his mind is almost useless. We should consider..."

I fell unconscious again. When I woke I was in a really comfortable bed. My head was still pounding, but the pain had lessened. Gavin was handcuffed to a chair next to me. Gavin's loud snoring was familiar enough to completely wake me up.

The room I was in seemed to be some sort of hospital room. There were no windows, or doors for that matter. Besides my bed, Gavin's chair, and the IV I was hooked up to; the room was bare. I noticed something even stranger than the absence of a door. The walls, ceiling, and floor were solid metal.

As I tried to sit up I realized I was handcuffed to my bed. I don't know why they would do that, because I couldn't stand up if I wanted to. I tried to reach my cuff, but I couldn't move my arms or legs. It seemed to be a miracle that I could move my head.

I decided to wake Gavin up. I tried to do it as softly as possible. "GAVIN, wake up!" I yelled.

He jerked out of his sleep immediately. "Was goin on?" He murmured sleepily. He noticed that I was awake. "Fabian, your awake!"

"Yeah I noticed. How long have we been in here?"

"I don't know. Two, maybe three days. I can't tell down here. I mean they locked us up right after you went ballistic in the chair. One more thing, Fabian." He looked at me very seriously. "I think these people are like you. You know in the _special_ way. When they brought us in here, one of the doctors walked up to a solid wall, and boom. There was an opening in the wall."

I wasn't to surprised by this. "It's completely possible. I mean, if there's one person who has my abilities, there's bound to be more."

"How are you so calm about this?! If these people _are_ like you, we're in an enormous amount of danger. We need to figure out how to get out of here."

"How Gavin? Hmmm? How do we escape a metal room, make it past hundreds of people regardless if they're like me or not? Do we walk to Vegas from the middle of the desert with no supplies? I vote we just stay calm and stay here."

"Absolutely not. Your decisions led us into an underground city where you were injured and we were inpri-"

He was interrupted by a door sized hole opening in the wall. Two people walked through the door. One was the older man we had seen in the desk video. The other was a guy I'm guessing was a couple years older than us. He had a dark buzz-cut, and purple eyes. One of his arms had some sort of tattoo on it. It was a symbol like the one on the door to the city.

They both stopped talking when they noticed that we were awake.

The boy walked over to my bed and said, "So this is the Terra I've heard so much about. He doesn't look like much." He passed a meaningful glance to the old man. He began to address me. "I know you must be very confused about this whole thing. With the powers, the abduction, and now your very violent reaction to the MSD. You both should know now that you've been proven trust worthy, you are both in a very safe place. My name is Nathan, one of the many elementals you will meet around the city of Salus."

For the first time since he walked in, I found my voice. "I've heard that term a couple times since I've been here. What exactly is an Elemental?"

"Finally, he speaks. An elemental is pretty self explanatory. It means one who controls the elements, and before you ask yes there are multiple types of elementals. There are Terra, like you and Colonel Sanders over there, who control the minerals in the earth around us. Necro, like me , who are mostly telepathic, but also hold a small amount of power over illusions. Pyro, who control fire and heat energy. Aqua, who can hold power over water for breif amounts of time. Fluero, who control the very light. And finally the Zephyr, who hold a small amount of power on the winds." He seemed winded after that explanation. "Any questions?"

"I've got one." Gavin chipped in. "Why should we believe anything you just said?"

"I can get at least three people in here right now to prove it to you."

"No, that's ok. We get the idea." I interrupted. "Just one other question. Where do these people come from? Elementals can't just appear out of nowhere, right?"

"Actually, from what we can tell, it _is_ random. An elemental can be born to a normal human just as easily as another elemental." He turned to leave, but then turned back around. "I forgot one thing. We call elementals who have yet to develop their powers Haths. Your friend is an Aqua Hath." He turned and walked out past the older man.

As soon as Nathan was gone the man walked over and a metal chair just melded out of the ground. He sat down and began to speak. "I apologize for that curt and confusing explanation. I am Lieutenant Colonel James Frankfurt. I am a Terra, which means I can control any metal and certain types of rock. Nathaniel was correct when he described the elementals, but left a lot unspoken."

"The underground complex we are in now is called Salus. Our civilization has existed for about as long as humans have been around. This is one of the several cities we have scattered around the world. We live in complete secrecy from human nations."

"Why though?" I interrupted. "If you guys are so powerful, why are you hiding?"

"Good question. If any conflict came between the elementals and humans there would be war. We would lose that war, due to the sheer numbers of humans today." He looked at us seriously. "You have to understand. There are only a few thousand of us in the world. Elementals are basically just a fraction of the human race. An elemental has the same chance of being born to a human, as a human has to an elemental."

"This city is one of the few safe places for our kind on earth. The very name, Salus, means safety. Here we train young Haths before their powers take over. A young person with these sort of powers can be very dangerous when left unattended."

"What do you plan to do with us then?" Gavin asked suspiciously.

"The main idea is for you to under-go the training program here. Though, Fabian you will have to be put in a more advanced class, since your powers have already manifested. But, before that I want you both to recount how you ended up in the middle of the desert."

He was silent as we described our escape from St. Christopher's, the trek through the desert, and our abduction. The only thing I left out was Alicia. I wasn't sure what to think about that yet. I noticed Gavin raised his eyebrows at that part of the story, but thankfully he said nothing.

"So you say that when my team picked you up there was no one around?" He said, surprised. "That's strange indeed. You see, when an elemental uses their abilities they emit a special pheromone that traces they amount of power they have behind that ability. Exactly seven minutes before you were found, their was a spike in the radars that showed an elemental with very formidable strength."

"Well about that time, _I_ had lost control and used my powers."

"No, that's not possible. The radar piked up someone with the strength of a full grown elemental. I'm sorry to tell you this, but at your current age, you don't have anywhere close to that much power."

We sat in silence for several minutes until Frankfurt stood up. His chair disappeared back into the floor. "Well, enough sitting and talking. You seem healthy again. It's time to introduce you two to your fellow students."

We walked through what seemed like an endless amount of hallways and corridors. The actual city was in a cavern that seemed to be somewhere from twenty to thirty miles long. For there being a shortage of Elementals, it didn't look like it. We passed hundreds of people on our way to the training area.

"Ah, here we are." Frankfurt announced as we approached several small blue buildings with red roofs. "These are the housing areas for those who have already begun their training."

Through the doorway was a very thin hallway that was crowded with all sorts of things. There were anything from baseball bats to TVs. In the distance we could hear the of voices several people.

Frankfurt immediately began to apologize for the mess. "I'm sorry for this mess. I had ordered them to clean it up."

"It's ok." Gavin said "But what is this building if it's not the sleeping area?"

"This is the recreational room for when the students are out of school. We created this building to keep the students occupied and out of the way of the workers."

"Colonel, what are the rules around here?" I asked as I climbed over a bike. "Surely you don't just have young Elementals running wildly. Right?"

"All rules and areas will be explained to you by a student that I assign to you."

How did they manage to get all of this stuff out here?" Gavin complained. "I mean look at this! There are two perfectly good stereo system just sitting out here."

"My student have probably just cleared out the basement for another one of their Statues tournaments."

"What's a statues tournament?" I asked nervously. "Is that some sculpting game?

"Statues is a game that one of my Terra students created. It uses the powers of a Terra. I'm sure that the rules will be explained to you with great detail."

When we finally made our way to the end of the hallway we went down a stair case. In the basement was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The basement was pretty large, maybe fifteen by twelve feet. Around the edge of the basement were about ten to fifteen people about my age. What really caught me was what was in the center.

A kid with a beanie and glasses was standing on one side, while a girl with bond hair was standing on the other. Between them were two pale statues. They were both about a foot tall. The one one the right had a body like a knights armor, and the head of a dragon. The one on the left looked like a ballerina with a chainsaw.

The dragon went after the ballerina in a full on tackle while the ballerina just stood there. At the last moment, the ballerina did a flip over the dragons head, and sliced him in two.

The boy walked over to the girl and shook her hand. They left the the center and went to the sidelines while another pair walked up.

"That, was a Statues match." Th Colonel said. "Well, we better introduce you before the next match begins."

He walked out into the center of the floor and said. "That was a terrific match. Good job to both of the competitors. But, before you begin the next match I would like to introduce two new students. Fabian Callus and Gavin Free will both be joining you for the immediate future. Do I have any volunteers to give them a tour?" No one spoke. He turned to the boy who had lost. "Well, Kyle. You don't seem too indispose. Why don't you show our new students around?"

"Yes, sir." Kyle said with a sigh.

"Well, I will see you two tomorrow for training." Frankfurt said to us. He left out the hallway. We could hear him tripping over things for a few minutes, then silence.

"Well, lets go start the tour." Kyle said, and walked off.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We left the recreation center and went over to the bunks. Kyle checked us out a small house with a bathroom, two rooms, and a small kitchen.

"Do you have to share a house with someone?" Gavin asked

"Yeah. We all have a bunk mate." Kyle said sullenly "Did you guys see that match I had earlier?"

"Yeah, that was really cool. How do you guys make those cool statues?"

"After training we have a few hours to ourselves, so I just worked on it for a day or two. It's really easy when you control the material that you make it out of."

"Do you think that once I've got my powers under control I could do it?"

"Sure. I mean, I also depends on your reflexes. You stumble even once, and your statue gets cut to bits."

We continued on to the training area. It was comprised of a full on gym, a boxing ring, and a solid steel room.

"What's that room for?" Gavin asked indicating the metal room.

"Oh, that's for practicing your elemental abilities. You'll see what I mean tomorrow." He paused for a second. "There's only one more place to show you. It's called the Arena."

We walked to the very edge of the cavern. On the wall was a door way. As we walked through the doorway something hit me. It was completely silent. I hadn't noticed it but since I had woken up, there had been absolutely no silence.

Inside was a huge arena with a lake, sand dunes, and several bonfires. Around the rim were several raised benches.

"What happens here? Gladiator fights?" Gavin joked.

"Just about." Kyle answered "They hold a weekly duel here. It's a tournament between several senior students. They won't even let you compete until your sixteen."

"Well, you said this was the last place, right?" I asked

"Yeah, this is the last place that we're allowed to go. Don't worry about getting bored. By the time trainings done, you'll be so beat you'll be asleep instantly."

"Well let's make our way back to the rec center." Gavin interrupted

When we got back the rec center, the tournament had already ended. The students had moved all the stuff from the hallway back to the basement. Kyle brought us to a room off the main hallway. It seemed to be some sort of entertainment room with several TV's and some weird boxes that were attached to them. The students held some sort of controllers.

"What are those things?" I said to Kyle. I pointed at the boxes.

"Your kidding, right?" He said. "Those are game consoles. You've never played a video game?"

"What's a video game?" Gavin asked. "Is it some sort of interactive TV?"

"Basically. Where did you guys live to not know what a video game is?"

"St. Christopher's School for Insolent Children." We said at the same time.

"So what's that, a boarding school?"

"Nope, an orphanage." Gavin said "We've both lived there since we were eight.

"We escaped because my powers developed in a very public place." I said "I may have, accidentally, set a wire on my teacher."

"Well, I wouldn't tell anyone that is I were you." Kyle laughed. "They might get to afraid to train with you."

Kyle introduced us to all of the students in the building. Harley, John, Bobby, Cassie, etc. There were so many names I instantly forgot most of them.

Afterwords, Gavin and I went to our house. I sat down on my bed. "How is this even possible?" I asked Gavin "How did we get involved in this?"

"I don't know mate. I'm still working on believing it." He went over to his room right across the hall. "Hey, Fabian. Do you think I'll really get those... ...powers?"

"I sure hope so, buddy. That be awesome if you could really do the things they described."

We sat in silence for a while. After a while I could hear Gavin's snores. I couldn't sleep at all. I just sat there waiting for sleep. When I finally began to dowse off an alarm sounded from the kitchen.

I got up and walked into the kitchen. On the counter were two sets of folded up clothing. One was black with green lining, while the other was black with blue linings. There was a note on each one. On the green one the note said _Fabian_, and the other said _Gavin_.

I went into the bathroom and changed into my clothes. They were a black T-shirt, a protective jacket, and some padded cargo pants. In the pocket of the pants was a pure black watch. I decided to leave it alone until I knew if it was just a watch.

When I got to the kitchen, Gavin was already up eating some oatmeal."Where did you get that?" I asked. I hadn't seen any food in the single cupboard that we had.

"See that little panel on the wall?" He asked. "I bumped into it and a little slot appeared next to it. A voice asked what I wanted for breakfast."

"Really?" I said, surprised. "It's that easy?" I walked over to the panel. It only had four buttons on it. They were labeled _breakfast, lunch, _dinner ,and _snack_. I pressed the breakfast button.

As Gavin said, I small slot appeared in the wall. "What would you like to eat?" A high pitch voice said.

"Pancakes, syrup, and eggs." I answered. A minute later, a plate filled with pancakes and eggs popped out. A little dish of syrup was on the side.

"This is absolutely awesome!" I said. I began to wolf down my pancakes as quickly as possible.

"Slow down! You don't have to be at the training center till' 8:30."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"When I got my breakfast the voice said that our schedule today was to go to the training room from 8:30 to 3:00. We have free time till' curfew afterwords."

"Ok. What time is it now?"

"7:00." He said as he walked out with his change of clothes. I finished up the last of my eggs as Gavin walked back in.

"How do I look?" He asked with a grin.

"You still look like an idiot. Just a little less of one now." I said with a grin. "So what do you think of the watch?"

"It's pretty comfortable. I haven't been able to explore the settings yet."

"Well, you'll have to do that later. It's 8:15. We should head over to the training center."

It took us a few minutes to get there so we arrived right on time. Colonel Frankfurt was waiting for us at the iron room with one other person. I almost had a heart attack when I saw who it was. I recognized that brown hair. Those orange-red eyes.

"Hey, Fabian" said Alicia.

She was in an outfit similar to Gavin's and my own. Except, her's had red lining, and she didn't have a watch. In stead she had a tattoo similar to Nathan's.

"How did you get here?!" I half screamed.

"Well after I abandoned you guys in Fently, I caught a ride to Vegas, hiked for about twenty miles, and walked through the front door." She said with a smile.

"Wait." Gavin said "You knew about us didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged. I was sent by the good colonel here to seek out whoever had been setting of radars in that area. I just happened to stumble onto you two."

"The reason I sent Alicia to you two was to see who had been practicing their skills while unregistered." Said Frankfurt "When you told us your story I realized it had been you who she encountered. I Decided not to say anything until you met her here."

"If we could please get to your lesson now. For the next few day you two will be having classes with myself,Professors Galium, and Meneses. You will be studying general sciences with Prof. Galium, and basic arithmetic with Prof. Meneses. You will come here in the mornings to learn how to gain control of your powers with Alicia. Gavin, you will go with Mrs. Halen until your powers manifest."

An older woman walked over to us from across the hall, and led Gavin away. Alicia turned towards me with the biggest smile I have ever seen.

"I have chosen Alicia to be you training partner." said Frankfurt. "She will be your sparing partner, and will work with you to control your abilities. You will spend all available time by her side until I have approved of control of your abilities."

"Wait." I interrupted "Are you saying that she gets to order me around, and beat the crud out of my on a daily basis?"

"That about sums it up." He turned towards Alicia. "I shall be taking my leave of you now. My advice is to start with level two." He left.

"What's level two?" I asked

"Come on and I'll show you." We walked into the iron room. In the middle of the room was a small table with a shiny sphere on it.

"This right here is just a ball of lead." She said. She picked up the little ball. "You goal, is to lift this at least two feet above my head and lower it back down with out hitting me. Since your so inexperienced, it'll probably take you a few weeks."

"Oh really?" She was making me angrier every second. I figured I had a good chance of actually using my power. "Gimme a sec."

I took the ball from her and concentrated. I closed my eyes and I could feel the ball lift itself from my palm. I opened my eyes and there it was. Floating two or three feet above us.

"We'll that was fast." Said Alicia, unsurprised. "Now bring it down slowly."

I tried, I really did. When I brought it down it may have accidentally hit her straight in the head. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she fell to the floor.

"Alicia?" I asked stupidly. I suddenly realized what I had done. However, before I really had time to really react several people with white uniforms rushed in on a stretcher. One of them started giving orders to all the others. "Come on, lift her up. We need to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible."

I walked up to the main doctor while they were lifting up up. "How did you guys know she was injured?"

I looked at me, full of confusion. "What do you mean? Didn't they brief you on the functions of the nanoids?" He seemed to understand something. "Oh, are you one of the new kids?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Where's _your_ watch? You should have it on at all times."

"It's right here." I pulled it out of my pocket and put it on. I immediately felt a sharp pain in my wrist. "Oww. What was that?"

"It was a bunch of really small robots, put directly into your bloodstream. They keep track of your physical health, location, and abilities."

"So that's how you guys knew that she was in trouble."

He nodded. I turned to see that the other doctors and Alicia had already left the training center. We began to walk exit the building as well.

"So, is she going to be ok? I mean, it's not like she's going to die or anything. Right?"

"No, definitely not. She had a minor concussion, just enough to knock her out. She should be healed by tomorrow. I don't envy you. Knowing Alicia, your going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Then let's hope I did some permanent damage."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"This is Oremite." Prof. Galium held up a small chunk of blue crystal from the table in front of us. It was a couple hours after Alicia's incident. I had already gone through an hour of arithmetic with Professor Meneses, so I was pretty drowsy at this point.

I was in the science classroom with Professor Galium. He was showing me several elements and compounds that we would be working with throughout training. On the table were about fifty different petri dishes with different minerals in them.

Professor Galium was am man in his late thirties. He had brown hair and pale gold eyes. He had a simple goatee in the place of a beard or mustache. When he walked, he always limped slightly on his left leg.

"Oremite actually comes in two forms." He continued. "This blue form and this yellow one over here. You'll be working with this material during your physical training extensively."

"Why?" The little crystal didn't look like anything special.

"While in it's blue form it amplifies Elemental powers by a small amount. When exposed to too much, however. The radiation emitted from it can be lethal." He put it down and picked up the yellow Oremite. "It becomes yellow when exposed to extreme heat. The yellow form restricts and sometimes neutralized your abilities."

"So during training am I going to be using blue or yellow?"

"Both." He looked at the clock. "Well, schools just about out. Before you go though, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

_Uh-oh._ I thought. _What did I do already?_

"I hear that this morning you knocked my daughter unconscious?"

_Oh crud._ "Alicia is your daughter?"

"Yes. It was me who signed her up for the tutoring position. Understand, I don't blame you for anything that happened to her. I knew that she would get injured somehow. I just wanted to let you know that, from what I've heard about you. Be easy on her."

"What exactly have you heard about me, sir?"

"Only that you have the potential to be a lot more powerful at your current age than most full grown Elementals of your dominion."

"Really? They must be over estimating my abilities."

"So you think that the three hour assessment I did on your powers was over estimating you?"

"You did the assessment? When? While I was unconscious?"

"Yes. It is more accurate when the subject is in a restful state."

"Wait. Since you did my assessment, are you a doctor? I thought you were just a teacher."

"I am both. Salus has precious few scientists and doctors. Most youths decide to continue military training, and become law enforcement agents."

"Law enforcement agents?" I echoed "What like the FBI?"

He smiled "No, we do not take part in any human governments. Our own society has laws that keep people from causing havoc."

"You mean that there are more of us out there than just the few cities?"

"Of course, once people have gain control over their abilities they can come and go as they please." He looked at his watch. "It's about time they release Alicia from the hospital. Come, we can walk and talk."

"Ok, but I'm only going to the entrance. I'm sure I'll see her later. Though, your watch does bring up one more question. Why do some of us have tattoos and some have watches?"

"We all get the symbol of our dominion tattooed onto our arms when we finish the basic training. Here's mine."

"What dominion are you? I forgot to ask."

"I'm a Fluero. That means I hold-"

"Control over the light. Yeah, a guy named Nathan told me that."

"You've already met Nathan?" I nodded. "Impressive, what did you think?"

"He was a bit grouchy, he didn't explain much at all. He just walked into my hospital room, said something about the classes of elemental, and walked out."

"That probably has to do with his brother Kyle. He had gotten into trouble for fighting yesterday."

"Wait, Kyle? Moody Terra with a beanie?"

"That's him. How do you know him?"

I shrugged. "Colonel Frankfurt had him give me a tour of all the facilities that I was allowed to go to."

We walked in silence for a while until we reached the hospital. The Professor turned to me and said, "Well, since your not going, I'll see you tomorrow." He walked away.

"Wait." I caught up with him. "Might as well go apologize. I mean, she's going to hurt me either way. Better get it over with."

"Come on then." We went all the way to the third out of five floors in the hospital. I waited for the Professor while he asked the nurse which room she was in. I just went and sat in a chair in the corner.

The waiting room was a large room with chairs all around the border of the room. Several pillars stood in random spots with televisions on them.

Not to many people seemed to be in this area of the hospital. There were a few students who had been injured. I didn't know any of them, but I did recognize the girl from Kyle's fight.

She had a bandage on her left arm and her right leg had a cast. Now that I had more time to look at her, she seemed to be a year or two younger than me. She was short, thin yet very powerful looking. From my seat I could just make out some copper eyes behind her wall of hair.

"That's Elizabeth Orwell." I hear a voice say. I turn and Prof. Galium is already back. "She's one of my top students. Shame she almost never turns in her homework."

"You teach all of the students?" I said, surprised "It's not just Gavin and I?"

"Of course. Your classes are twice as long as normal classes. Your missing out on history and language arts just to catch up with everyone else."

"Well, I can't wait till I've caught up. I love history." I thought about it for a second. "Would there be any history about our species?"

"Yes. Our history is intertwined with the history of humans. So, it just has the history of the world told from our prospective."

We sat in silence for a few seconds until he said "The nurse said that Alicia was in room 327. It's over this way."

Safe to say that Alicia wasn't too happy to see me. As soon as I walked into the room a small beam of fire almost seared my head off. It was sheer luck that she missed me and hit the IV next to me. It burst into flame.

She was standing next to her bed, looking very angry.

Her left hand was encased in flames.

"What was that for?!" I yelled "I was coming to apologize for earlier."

"You knocked me out! I _told_ you not to hit me when you brought it down!"

"That was the first time I've ever had any control over it. It was a miracle that I moved it at all!"

Professor Galium came in behind me. "Even I admit that shooting at him was uncalled for. He is untrained, you knew the risks."

"But he knocked me unconscious when I gave him direct orders! He knew I was there and did nothing."

"It doesn't matter. He has come here to give his apology to you. Accept it and we'll get on with our lives."

She turned and glared at me. "I accept your apology, and I'll see you tomorrow at training." She stomped out of the room angrily.

"That went well." Said Prof. Galium "She usually puts anyone who hurts her in the hospital with her. She must like you." He followed his daughter out of the room.

_I'll never understand these people_. I thought


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next day I got a message from the alarm clock that sat next to my bed. _Fabian Callus, report to the training center. You are to spend all day in physical training._

_Great. _I thought, _I get to spend all day with the only person who already hates me._

I got dressed in a new uniform that had been left out for me, and ate a tasty breakfast. Afterword's, I made my way to the Training Center. Alicia was already waiting for me and motioned for me to follow her into the Metal Room

Alicia said absolutely nothing about the incident. Though, I did notice that she seemed a lot calmer than she had at the hospital. By calm, I mean she didn't glare at me as much.

Today, the training room had several bars near the ceiling, and a small table held different colored orbs. The balls where about three inches in diameter and colored in every hue of the rainbow. I realized the color came from protective foam that surrounded them.

"What are these for?" I asked, pointing at the spheres.

"Those are just like the ball I had yesterday, except now you can't knock me out unless you try to." She answered curtly. "As your alarm should have told to you, you will be spending all day with me. First, we will be starting with some exercises that don't require your powers."

"See those bars?" She pointed at them. "You are to get to them and do 10 pull-ups. When you are finished you'll do 50 push-ups and talk to me afterwards." She turned away. As she reached the door she yelled "No powers!"

After she left, I just sat there and thought about what I was going to do. The bars were about 10 feet in the air, so I couldn't jump to them.

My thought process went like this for the next half hour, _Well, I could.. ...no, that won't work. _I paced the room. _Maybe if.. ...no._

I went over to the table with the spheres, and tried to see if they connected in some way to form a ladder. Upon inspection the just seemed to be normal little spheres. I started to walk away, but I tripped on my own feet.

_Smooth. _I thought as I got up. I used the table to help me and it slid out from under me, causing me to fall again. _Really smooth._

Then I realized something. If the table moved, maybe it could help me reach the bars. I emptied the balls out of it and backed it into a corner. It slid pretty easily, so I took a couple of the spheres and jammed them around the edges to keep it from moving.

When I stood on the table the bars were still about two feet above the reach of my arms. I was going to have to jump for it.

_Why couldn't it be easy?_ I asked myself _Why would she have me doing this all by myself? I mean I could just walk out and say that I did it already._

It came to me._ Unless, she's testing me and she's watching right now!_

That decided it. I jumped for it, and just barely got it with the tips of my fingers. I pull myself into a good position.

_Now for the hard part._

I pulled up and got to about seven pull-ups until my arms started to burn. When I finally finished I dropped to the floor. I crawled over to the middle of the room, and did the push-ups.

When I finished, I got up and walked over to the door. Alicia was sitting in a desk with a TV. The TV had footage of my exercises on it.

"So you were watching, huh?" I asked her. "Didn't trust me to finish on my own?"

"No, I just wanted to see how you accomplished it." She actually smiled. "Not many people finish that quickly."

"So what's next, a break?" I asked hopefully. "Maybe a cold drink?"

"Not on your life. Get back in there; we're going to work on your powers now."

By the end of the day I was completely exhausted. She had made me complete every exercise I could think of, and many that I couldn't imagine. When I finally got out I went straight to my little apartment. When I got there the door was locked.

_ Strange, I didn't lock it as I left._ I thought about it. _In fact, I didn't know this door _could_ lock. Is Gavin in there?_

I decided to go to the Rec Center and ask about it. I found Kyle and told him what had happened.

"Oh, yeah." He said "All the houses lock from nine am to six pm. They don't want us just avoiding everyone. Otherwise, I would be in my room right now."

"So, I also have to stay awake for the next two hours." I sighed "Well, let's find something to do."

"We could go to the arena." He suggested

"I thought you said the arena was for dueling."

"Well, that was its main purpose. Students can use it for games after school. Let's go and I'll show you."

We made our way down to the arena to find that there was a crowd surrounding it.

"What's this about?" I asked "Is it one of those 'games' that you talked about?"

"Probably, today was there's a capture the flag match scheduled. They haven't opened the gates yet, so we need to find some good seats once they do."

"Should we crowd the doors like everybody else?"

"No, let's go wait by the bathrooms. There are some entrances from the bathrooms to the stands so that people can reach them easily."

The bathrooms where so close to the main entrance that it took us a few minutes to go to them. Surprisingly, they didn't smell at all like regular bathrooms. They were shiny and clean.

"So, how long until this match starts?"

"Didn't anyone teach you how do use a watch? You can check it in the main menu."

"This thing has a main menu? All I got from it was a stab in the wrist."

"Yeah, it's that little silver button right there."

I pressed it and a little screen popped out of the top of the watch. It lit up with a tiny menu with four words popped up.

They were labeled _Calendar, Communication, Maps, _and_ Options_. I pressed the little icon that said _Calendar_. The screen filled with a calendar for the whole month of June. On it were several marked days with different events and the areas that they take place.

"Cool, now I should be able to keep myself awake after training." I yawned "So when should the match start?"

As if on cue the doors opened. We walked into the Arena and got some seats near the top. I was just about to sit down when I noticed the girl from the hospital walking to near Kyle and me. Her arm was still in a cast, but her leg seemed fine.

"Hey Kyle," I nudged him in the side. "What was her name again? Isabel? Angela?"

He started to blush. "Her name is Elizabeth Orwell. She's in our grade." He called to her. "Liz! Come sit with us!"

She turned and smiled. Within minutes she was sitting on Kyle side, opposite to me. She turned to him and asked "So Kyle, who's your new friend? I haven't seen him around before."

"I'm Fabian Callus, nice to meet you." I said before he could answer.

"Callus?" She wrinkled her nose. "You might want to change your name."

"Why?" It sounded perfectly fine to me.

"Don't you know that your name is a kind of foot sore? I mean if I had a name like that, I would change it pretty quickly."

"Wow, I will get on that immediately." We slipped into an awkward silence.

Kyle seemed to sense this and said "So what teams are playing today?"

"It's Beta verses Theta today. Whoever wins will face off against Epsilon next week." answered Elizabeth.

"So is each team made up of a certain elementals, or is it just a bunch of people grouped together?" I asked.

"The latter, any team can join as long as they have at between 4 and 8 members." said Kyle.

"Do you guys have a team that you route for?"

"Yeah, I mainly go for Sigma. They're an all Terra team that absolutely crushes everybody."

"Except for Alpha." added Elizabeth "Everybody knows that Sigma doesn't stand a chance this year."

"It's only because Nathan decided to finally join it." Kyle shot back.

"Nathan, as in your brother?" I asked, confused "It doesn't seem like he'd ever do anything fun."

"How'd you know that? I didn't tell you he was my brother."

"Prof. Galium told me yesterday in science. He said that he was a Necro?"

"Yeah, Nathan controls illusions and the shadows. Tools that are perfect for a game of Capture the Flag."

A horn sounded and a screen came down from the ceiling. It had two digital scoreboards that were both set at 0 and had each team's name above them. In the middle of the stadium, a single purple flag rose out of the ground. Two doors opened on the opposite sides of the stadium. A team entered the stadium from each side.

To our left was Beta with their pale blue uniforms that were otherwise identical to our normal clothing. It consisted of 6 players that were each shown on the screen above. 2 Terra, 3 Aqua, and 1 Pyro.

To our right was Theta in dark purple uniforms. Just like beta, each of Theta's 7 players was shown on the screen. 2 Pyro, 2 Terra, 2 Zephyr, and 1 Fluero.

Only one of the 13 players stood out to me. She was a tall, dark Zephyr about 13, 14 years old. She looked pretty intimidating with icy blue eyes and long curly hair. When her face came up on the screen it said her name was Skylar Eveniski.

When both teams were completely introduced an announcers voice came through the speakers. "All right, ladies and gentlemen. Let the match, BEGIN!"

I walked home alone after the match. Theta had absolutely crushed Beta and was going to face Epsilon next week. Kyle had decided to walk Liz home after the match, leaving me with just my thoughts to distract me.

When I got home Gavin was already passed out on his bed. I had a delicious dinner of fried chicken and French fries, and went to bed.

My mind slowly mulled over the events of the day. Besides the grueling exercises and the discovery of my name, I 'd had pretty good day. Alicia didn't hate me, I'd made friends with Liz, and learned about Elemental Capture the Flag.

I don't know if it was just the stimulation of the day or the fried chicken, but my dreams immediately turned to nightmares when I fell asleep.


End file.
